


Hamilton: A Genderbent Musical

by yellowwolf56



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Angst, F/F, F/M, M/M, genderbent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-13
Updated: 2016-07-13
Packaged: 2018-07-23 19:00:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7476036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yellowwolf56/pseuds/yellowwolf56
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>We all know the story of Alexander Hamilton. But what would happen if it wasn't Alexander, but Alexandra Hamilton.</p><p>This is the story of not just Alexandra, but of the people who helped her come to life on stage.</p><p>-</p><p>Alexandra was almost ruined when she came to America. After she gets swept up in a revolution in a country that isn't even her's, how can she keep herself and her friends alive?</p><p>Brenna has dreamed of a breakout roll. When she lands a role Lin-Manuel Miranda's "Hamilton", her dreams seem to be coming true. However, when backstage drama and romance threatens the cast, what can she do?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

Alexandra Hamilton was a bastard, orphan, daughter of a whore and a  
Scotsman, dropped in the middle of a forgotten spot in the Caribbean by Providence, impoverished, in squalor who happened to grow up to be a hero and a scholar.

She was the ten-dollar Founding Mother without a father, who  
got a lot farther by workin' a lot harder, by bein' a lot smarter, by bein' a self-starter, by fourteen, they placed her in charge of a trading charter.

Every day while slaves were being slaughtered and carted away across the waves, she struggled and kept her guard up. Inside, she was longing for something to be a part of. The sister was ready to beg, steal, borrow, or barter.

Then a hurricane came, and devastation reigned. Our woman saw her future drip, drippin' down the drain. Put a pencil to her temple, connected it to her brain. She wrote her first refrain, a testament to her pain.

Well the word got around, they said, "This kid is insane, man!" Took up a collection just to send her to the mainland. "Get your education, don't forget from whence you came, and  
The world's gonna know your name! What's your name, man?"

Alexandra Hamilton.

When she was ten, her father split, full of it, debt-ridden. Two years later, see Alex and her father, bed-ridden.  
Half-dead, sittin' in their own sick  
The scent thick. Alex got better but her father went quick.

She moved in with a cousin, the cousin committed suicide, left her with nothin' but ruined pride, somethin' new inside.  
A voice saying "Alex you gotta fend for yourself." She started retreating and reading every treatise on the shelf.

There would've been nothing left to do,  
for someone less astute. She would've been dead or destitute without a cent of restitution. She started working, clerking for her late father's landlord,   
trading sugar cane and rum and other things she couldn't afford. Scamming for every book she can get her hands on. Planning for the future, see her now as she stands on the bow of a ship headed for a new land.

The ship is in the harbor now, see if you can spot her. Another immigrant comin' up from the bottom. Her enemies destroyed her rep, America forgot her.

And her name was Alexandra Hamilton.

-

Brenna Preston was tapping her foot nervously against floor, the phone in her hand. She had been told she would receive news today.

Had she been cast in Hamilton?

Brenna swallowed her fear, and looked over at her mother, Helen, who was watching television to pass the time.

The twenty-six-year-old sucked in another breath, and jumped when the phone rung in her hand. Helen looked over sharply. Brenna answered the phone with shaking hands.

"Is this Miss Brenna Preston?" A voice asked on this other end of the phone.

"Yes," Brenna said, struggling to keep her voice steady.

"Well, Brenna, I'm happy to inform you that you have been cast as Alexandra Hamilton!" The voice said. "We are holding the read-through in one week at 7:00. We'll email you the rest of the details!"

Brenna squeaked out a thank you and hung up the phone. She turned to her mother. Helen had been listening through another phone, and was smiling.

"We have to tell your father," she said excitedly. The pair began bustling around, testing and calling everyone they could to announce the good news.


	2. Erin Burr, Ma'am

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Erin Burr is annoyed, Alexandra is excited, and the Revolutionary Set just want a drink.

**1776**   
**New York City**

Alexandra walked up to the tall woman with bushy black hair.

"Pardon me, are you Erin Burr, ma'am?" She asked politely. The woman turned to look at her.

"That depends, who's asking?" The woman said, arching an eyebrow.

"Oh well sure, ma'am," Alexandra said. "I'm Alexandra Hamilton, I'm at your service, ma'am. I have been looking for you."

"I'm getting nervous," Erin said.

"Ma'am, I heard your name at Princeton. I was seeking an accelerated course of study, when I got sort out of sorts with a buddy of yours. I may have punched her. It's a blur, ma'am. She handles the financials—"

"You punched the bursar?" Burr asked, slightly shocked.

"Yes, I wanted to do what you did," Alexandra said, pushing ahead.  
"Graduate in two, then join the revolution. She looked at me like I was stupid, I'm not stupid. So how'd you do it? How'd you graduate so fast?" Alex asked.

"It was my parents' dying wish before they passed," Erin explained. The two had begun walking. Alexandra blanched.

"You're an orphan. Of course, I'm an orphan. God, I wish there was a war!  
Then we could prove that we're worth more than anyone bargained for," she said, rambling a bit.

"Can I buy you a drink?" Burr asked, interrupting her.

"That would be nice," Alexandra admitted.

"While we're talking, let me offer you some free advice," Erin said. "Talk less."

"What?" Alexandra asked.

"Smile more," Erin advised. "Don't let them know what you're against, or what you're for."

"You can't be serious!" Alexandra said.

"You want to get ahead?" Erin asked.

"Yes," Alexandra said. The two stepped into a pub. Erin quickly ordered the two drinks.

"Fools who run their mouths off, wind up dead," Erin warned.

"Yo yo yo yo yo! What time is it?" Yelled a woman from the other side of the room.

"Showtime!" Two other women shouted.

"Like I said..." Erin said, rolling her eyes.

"Showtime! Showtime! Yo!  
I'm Joan Laurens in the place to be!  
Uh, two pints o' Sam Adams, but I'm working on three, uh! Those redcoats don't want it with me cause I will pop chick-a-pop these cops 'til I'm free!" The first woman was shouting. She had tan skin and a smattering of freckles all across her face and hands. She had bushy brown hair tied back in a huge bushel behind her head.

"Ah oui oui, mon ami, je m'appelle Lafayette! The Lancelot of the revolutionary set! I came from afar just to say "Bonsoir!" Tell the queen, "Casse-toi!" Who's the best? C'est moi!" One of the others shouted. She had dark brown skin and curly black hair also tied back.

"Brrrah, brraaah! I am Helena Mulligan! Up in it, lovin' it,  
Yes I heard your mother say "come again?"" The third women shouted. She had skin even darker than Lafayette's and had hair covered in a cap.

"Lock up your sons, and horses, of course, it's hard to have intercourse over four sets of corsets," She continued.

"Wow," Lafayette said, looking a little dazed, a smile sliding up her face.

"No more sex!" Laurens shouted. "Pour me another brew, son! Let's raise a couple more!"

"To the revolution!" All three cried, clinking cups.

"Well, if it ain't the prodigy of Princeton College!" Laurens said, noticing Alexandra and Erin.

"Erin Burr," Mulligan said smugly.

"Give us a verse, drop some knowledge," Laurens taunted.

"Good luck with that. You're takin' a stand. You spit, I'mma sit. We'll see where we land," Erin snapped, rolling her eyes. Lafayette and Mulligan booed her and then grinned at each other.

"Burr, the revolution's imminent  
What do you stall for?" Laurens asked. Alexandra couldn't help jumping into the conversation.

"If you stand for nothing, Burr, what'll you fall for?" She asked.

"Who are you?" Laurens asked.

"Who is this kid? What's she gonna do?" Lafayette asked. Alexandra smiled wickedly as Erin groaned behind her.

-

Brenna walked into the room and found a table surrounded by chairs. A radio say near the chair at the head of the table. Scripts sat in front of each chair.

Brenna walked around the table, catching a few names on the paper name plates set at each place.

"Daveed Diggs - Anthony Schuyler"

"Anthony Ramos - Margin "Peggy" Schuyler/Martin Reynolds"

"Lillian Heller - Joan Laurens/Phillipa "Phillie" Hamilton"

"Kendra Troller - Erin Burr"

Brenna found her place near the head of the table, which read,

"Lin-Manuel Miranda - Writer/Producer"

Brenna sat at her place, just as a girl with bushy brown hair stepped in. She smiled.

"I'm Jasmine Jones," she said. "I'm an ensemble member."

"Brenna Preston," Brenna said. "I'm Hamilton." Jasmine nodded.

"Nice to meet you."

The two both began flipping through the scripts.

"Oh, sorry ladies! I didn't realize what time it was!"

They both looked up and saw a man with shoulder length brown hair bustle in.

"I'm Lin, the writer and producer. Welcome!" He said. "I'm sure everyone will be here shortly."

Everyone filed in on their own time. Brenna was between Lin and a girl named Paula, who was cast as Lafayette/Jefferson.

As they began the read-through, Brenna was struck by how many words she was going to have learn. Whenever a song came up(which was often), Lin would play a prerecorded instrumental version of each piece. People would attempt to sing or rap their parts. The man playing Elijah Schuyler, Jonathan Groff, kept jokingly making comments to Paula and Brenna.

By the end of the read-through, Brenna was even more thrilled than she had been before. Paula was all smiles and dimples and Brenna had already decided she liked this girl. If the brunette was being honest with herself, Paula was attractive. Even straight people would have said so.

As Brenna drove home, the script in her lap, she kept thinking of Founding Mothers and a girl with a puffball of black hair.


	3. My Shot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the four amigos cause trouble, Brenna has a crush, and the cast can't stop debating about little things.

"I am not throwing away my shot!" Alexandra declared, her fisted hand rising in the air. "I'm just like my country, I'm young, scrappy, and hungry, and I'm not throwing away my shot!"

She turned to Erin, who was highly annoyed.

"I'm gonna get scholarship to King's College. I probably shouldn't brag, but dang, I amaze and astonish! The problem is I got a lot of brains, but no polish. I gotta holler just to be heard, with every word I drop knowledge!"

Joan looked like she was going to burst out laughing. Alexandra continued.

"I'm a diamond in the rough, a shiny piece of coal. Tryin' to reach my goal, my power of speech: unimpeachable.  
Only nineteen, but my mind is older. These New York City streets getting colder, I shoulder every burden, every disadvantage. I have learned to manage. I don't have a gun to brandish. I walk these streets famished.!The plan is to fan this spark into a flame. But damn, it's getting dark, so let me spell out my name. I am the—"

"A-L, E-X, A-N, D, R-A—we are—meant to be," Joan, Lafayette, Helena, and Alexandra shouted together

"A colony that runs independently. Meanwhile, Britain keeps shitting on us endlessly. Essentially, they tax us relentlessly. Then King George turns around, runs a spending spree. He ain't never gonna set his descendants free. So there will be a revolution in this century. ENTER ME!" She shouted.

"Don't be shocked when your history book mentions me. I will lay down my life if it sets us free. Eventually you'll see my ascendancy," Alexandra finished.

"I dream of life without the monarchy," Lafayette started. "The unrest in France will lead to "onarchy". "Onarchy?" How you say, how you s—Oh, anarchy!" She said, correcting herself. Mulligan was smiling at her. Alexandra raised an eyebrow at Joan as Lafayette continued.

"When I fight I make the other side panicky! With my shot!" She cried.

"Yo, I'm a tailor's apprentice. And I got y'all knuckleheads in loco parentis!" Helena said, winking at Lafayette, who turned faintly red.

"I'm joining the rebellion cuz I know it's my chance, to socially advance, instead of sewin' some pants! I'm gonna take a shot!" Mulligan said, grinning.

"Eh, but we'll never be truly free. Until those in bondage have the same rights as you and me. You and I, do or die, wait till I sally in on a stallion, with the first black battalion. Have another shot!" Was Joan's contribution to the cheer. The four were interrupted by Erin standing up.

"Geniuses, lower your voices. You keep out of trouble, and you double your choices. I'm with you, but the situation is fraught. You've got to be carefully taught: If you talk, you're gonna get shot!"

"Burr, check what we got. Madam Lafayette hard rock like Lancelot. I think your pants look hot. Laurens, I like you a lot! Let's hatch a plot blacker than the kettle callin' the pot. What are the odds the gods would put us all in one spot. Poppin' a squat on conventional wisdom, like it or not. A bunch of revolutionary manumission abolitionists. Give me a position, show me where the ammunition is!" Alexandra replied. Suddenly she quieted.

"Oh, am I talkin' too loud? Sometimes I get over excited, shoot off at the mouth.  
I never had a group of friends before.  
I promise that I'll make y'all proud," She said, looking sheepishly at Joan, Helena, and Lafayette.

"Let's get this girl in front of a crowd!" Joan crowed, slapping Alexandra on the back. She began chanting.

"Rise up! When you're living on your knees, you rise up! Tell your brother that he's got to rise up! Tell your sister that she's got to rise up! When are these colonies gonna rise up! Rise up!"

"I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory. When's it's gonna get me? In my sleep? Seven feet ahead of me? If I see it coming, do I run or do I let it be? Is it like a beat without a melody?" Alexandra asked. When her friends(and she considered Erin a friend) all look confused, she explained.

"See, I never thought I'd live past twenty. Where I come from some get half as many. Ask anybody why we livin' fast and we laugh, reach for a flask. We have to make this moment last, that's plenty." After thinking for a moment she shook her head.

"Scratch that. This is not a moment, it's the movement! Where all the hungriest sisters with something to prove went.  
Foes oppose us, we take an honest stand! We roll like Moses, claimin' our Promised Land! And? If we win our independence? Does that a guarantee of freedom for our descendants? Or will the blood we shed begin an endless cycle of vengeance and death with no defendants? I know the action in the street is exciting. But Jesus, between all the bleedin an' fighting. I've been reading an' writing. We need to handle our financial situation. Are we a nation of states? What's the state of our nation?" Alexandra drew another breath, and before anyone could interject, she powered ahead.

"I'm past patiently waitin'! I'm passionately smashin' every expectation! Every action's an act of creation! I'm laughin' in the face of casualties and sorrow! For the first time, I'm thinkin' past tomorrow! And I am not throwin' away my shot!"

The others stood frozen, staring at the girl. Alexandra blushed faintly. Joan slapped her on the back.

"Well said, Alex. Well said."

-

**Three Weeks After the Read-Through**

Brenna was at the piano with Lin, Paula, Kendra(Erin Burr), Lillian(Joan Laurens/Phillie Hamilton), and Quinn(Helena Mulligan). They were going over "Erin Burr, Ma'am" and the non-ensemble parts of "My Shot". Brenna kept tripping over her words during parts of "My Shot", mostly because there were so many. The women were joking around with Lin and each other. The five had gotten rather close in the three weeks they'd know each other.

Lin stopped playing the piano and sighed.

"Take a break guys. It sounds great," he said, giving a tired smile.

"Sure thing, Lin" Kendra said. Kendra was thirty-five, married with kids, and had automatically become the "mom" of the group. Brenna, the youngest by two years, was often called Baby Ham by the rest of the cast.

"Paula!" Brenna called as the older girl packed up her stuff. Paula looked up, smiling.

"What's up, Baby Ham?" She asked. Brenna rolled her eyes and snagged her arm.

"I want coffee, and I know a place we can get it free," she explained. Paula slid her hand down so they two entwined their fingers, making Brenna flush.

"Lead the way, Bren," she said, and Brenna walked the block to her family's cafe.

"Madre!" She called. "I'm home!"

Helen looked out from the back.

"You brought a friend!" She cried. Paula released Brenna's hand and waved.

"I'm Paula Laurens," she said. She shook hands with Helen.

"We have lunch break," Brenna explained. "Could we have some coffee and bagels to go?"

Helen made the food quickly, and handed it over to her daughter.

"Love you, mija!" Her mother called as Brenna and Paula left the cafe, carrying their lunch.

"I like your mom," Paula said. "She's really nice. Like you." Paula accented her point by elbowing Brenna in the side. Brenna grinned at her friend, turning red.

The two entered the large lunch room, finding Jon, Anthony, and Daveed in a deep discussion about racial diversity in major movies.

"In the Hunger Games they kill all but one of the main black characters," Jon argued. Anthony opened his mouth to retort when Paula and Brenna sat down next to him.

"In this play, people of many races die," Paula said. Anthony elbowed her.

"Not the discussion topic, Pauls. Tell Jon that Hunger Games is not racist!" He said, pointing at said person.

"It's not, Groffsauce," Brenna said, taking a bite of her bagel. Jon rolled his eyes and ate a forkful of his salad.

Daveed just sighed.

"They've been at it since this morning," he explained. Paula snorted a laugh.

"Hush, little pig," Brenna said. "You and Lillian got into a debate about whether Hamilton was bi or just a lesbian this morning."

"She is so bi," Paula said. "Why else did she marry Elijah?"

"Shut up, Laurens!" Lillian yelled from across the room. Before Paula could respond, Brenna clamped a hand over her mouth.

"Calm down, Paula."

The girl sighed. They all sat in silence until Lin called Jon in to practice "Burn."

"I also need Paula and Brenna for the Cabinet Battles," he said.

"Let's go, Jefferson," Brenna said, running into the rehearsal room with Paula behind her.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading my story! Please comment if you felt anything at all reading this!


End file.
